Multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump



Aug. 23, 1966 M. s. VARTAPETOV 3,267,869

MULTI-STAGE AXIAL FLOW HIGH PRESSURE PUMP Filed Nov. 15, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet l 3, 1966 M. s. VARTAPETOV 3,267,869

MULTI-STAGE AXIAL FLOW HIGH PRESSURE PUMP g- 23, 1966 M. s. VARTAPETOV3,267,869

MULTI-STAGE AXIAL FLOW HIGH PRESSURE PUMP Filed Nov. 15, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 23, 1966 M. s. VARTAPETOV MULTI-STAGE AXIAL FLOWHIGH PRESSURE PUMP Filed Nov. 15 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United StatesPatent This invention relates to the handling of liquid and moreparticularly to a multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump which servesto deliver liquid at high pressure and relatively low volume and thisapplication is a continuation in part of our co-pending applicationSerial No. 840,493, filed September 10, 1959, now abandoned.

Heretofore multi-stage axial flow pumps comprising a plurality ofimpellers mounted on a common shaft and with guide vane structuredisposed between the impellers have been proposed and utilized, but withthese prior art pumps it has not been possible to provide a highpressure output without increasing the capacity of the pump beyondnecessary limits and this has been due to the fact that with theimpeller design employed in these pumps, the necessary speed factor toproduce a desired high pressure discharge also results in needlesslyincreasing the capacity of the pump. In other words, in prior art pumpsof this type it has been necessary to utilize a relativelyhigh speedfactor in order to provide a high pressure discharge and only byproviding a different design of impeller which permits the use of arelatively low speed factor while providing a high discharge pressure,is it possible to provide a pump of this type capable of a highdischarge pressure and a relatively low volume.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a multi-stageaxial flow pump capable of a high pressure discharge and a relativelylow volume.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a multi-stageaxial flow high pressure pump in which the stages are provided asindependent units incorporating an impeller and a guide vane structure,any desired number of such stages being assembled in a common housingwith the impellers mounted on a common shaft extending through thehousing.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of amulti-stage axial flow high pressure .pump in which the stages areprovided as individual units, including an impeller and a guide vanestructure, each stage also incorporating a bearing means for the commonshaft on which the impellers are mounted thereby providing adequatesupport for the shaft, even though a large number of stages, i.e. fromthree to two hundred may be utilized.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a multi-stage axialflow high pressure pump in which each stage includes an impeller and aguide vane structure, each impeller having radially disposed blades withthe ratio of the radial length of the blades with respect to the outsidediameter of the impeller being not greater than 0.1 thereby permittinguse of a speed factor of the order of one twenty to two hundred whichserves to provide a high pressure relatively low volume pump.

3,267,869 Patented August 23, 1966 ice A further object of the inventionis the provision of a mutli-stage axial flow high pressure pump in whicheach stage constitutes a single unit, including an impeller and a guidevane structure with the impeller received on a common shaft and theguide vane structure received in the pump housing, all of the impellersbeing clamped on the shaft by means of a single securing means, such asa nut and all of the guide vane structures being clamped in place in thehousing by means of a single securing means, such as a nut therebymaterially facilitating the manufacture and assembly of the pump withany desired number of stages.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pump constructed in accordancewith this invention;

FIG. 2 a top plan view with parts broken away and in section for greaterclarity and showing the general structure of the pump of this invention;

FIG. 3 a transverse sectional view of one of the stages of the pump ofthis invention showing the relationship between the impeller and theguide vane structure of each stage;

FIG. 4 a View in perspective showing the impeller utilized in the pumpof this invention;

FIG. 5 an end elevational view of the impeller shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 a view in perspective showing the guide vane structure utilizedin the pump of this invention.

With continued reference to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, thereis shown a multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump constructed inaccordance with this invention and which may well comprise an elongatedtubular housing 10 mounted on -a base 11 and also mounted on the base 11is a drive motor 12 provided with a shaft 13 connected to the shaft ofthe pump through a suitable coupling 14.

With particular reference to FIG. 2, an intake casing 15 is secured toone end of the housing 10 by a flanged coupling 16 and the intake casing15 is provided with an intake fitting 17 having a suitable .flangecoupling 18 thereon for connecting the same to an intake pipe. A passage19 in the intake fitting 17 communicates with the interior of the pumphousing 10.

A shaft 20 extends through the pump housing 10 and also through theintake casing 15 and a suitable stuffing box 21 may be provided in theintake casing 15 to prevent leakage of liquid along the shaft 20. Alsoprovided in the intake casing 15 is a suitable thrust bearing 22 whichserves to absorb thrust transmitted to the shaft 20 by the impellers ofthe pump stages to be later described.

Any desired number of pump stages may be installed in the pump housing10 and the number of stages may vary between three and two hundreddepending upon the result-s desired and all of the stages are identical,each comprising a unit including an impeller and a guide vane structure.With particular reference to FIG. 3, there is shown one pump stage whichis representative of all of the stages and as shown in FIG. 3, there isincluded an impeller 23 mounted on an elongated bushing 24 and thebushing 24 may be slidably received on the shaft 20 and prevented fromrotation with respect thereto by a key 25 on the shaft 20 received in akeyway 26 in the bushing 24. The impeller 23 may be welded to thebushing 24 or fixed thereto in any other suitable manner. Withparticular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the impeller 23 includes animpeller body ring 27 fixed to the bushing 24 adjacent one end in anydesired manner and a peripheral bearing surface 28 is provided on thebushing 24 between the impeller 'body ring 27 and the opposite end ofthe bushing 24. As best shown in FIG. 4, the impeller body ring 27 isprovided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced radiallyprojecting blades 29 on the peripheral surface of the body ring 27 andas will be apparent from FIG. 4, the blades 29 are elongated andprovided with a generally airfoil cross section and the blades 29 aredisposed at an angle to the axis of the shaft 29 on which the impelleris mounted. It is further to be noted as shown in FIG. 5, that the ratioof the radial length h of the blades 29 with respect to the outsidediameter of the impeller 23 is not greater than 0.1.

With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 6, the guide vane structure 30of each pump stage may well comprise an outer sleeve 31 which is adaptedto be slidably received in the pump housing with a portion of the sleeve31 surrounding the impeller 23 and the sleeve 31 may be provided with anannular groove 32 for receiving a packing ring to engage the interiorsurface of the pump housing 10 to prevent leakage of fluid between thesleeve 31 and the pump housing 10. The guide vane structure alsoincludes a ring 33 fixed within the sleeve 31 and projecting inwardlyfrom the ring 33 are a plurality of guide vanes 34 which terminate in aninner ring 35. As best shown in FIG. 6, the guide vanes 34 arecircumferentially spaced and such vanes are elongated and provided witha curved generally airfoil cross section and are disposed substantiallyaxially of the pump housing 10. Fixed to the inner ring 35 in anysuitable manner is a bushing 36 and secured to the inner surface of thebushing 36 is non-metallic bearing 37 of rubber, plastic or any othersuitable material and the bearing 37 engages the bearing surface 28 onthe bushing 24.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the impellers 23 are slidably received on theshaft 20 in end-to-end relationship and such impellers may be clamped inposition on the shaft 20 by any suitable means, such as a nut 38threadedly received on the end of the shaft 20. In a similar manner, thesleeves 31 together with the guide vane structure 30 are slidablypositioned in end-to-end relationship within the pump housing 10 and theguide vane structure 30 are clamped in position in the pump housing It?by any suitable means, such as a nut 39 in the end of the housing 10*.It will, therefore, be seen that the impeller and guide vane structureconstituting each stage of the pump is securely held in position on theshaft 20 and in the housing 10 and the single securing means for theimpellers and the single securing means for the guide vane structuresmay be utilized with any desired number of stages.

A discharge fitting 4t) is secured to the pump housing 10 by a suitableflange coupling 41 at the end of the housing 10 opposite the intakecasing 15 and the discharge fitting is provided with a passage 42communicating with the interior of the housing 10 and also with asuitable coupling 43- for connecting the discharge fitting 4% to adischarge pipe. The passage 19 in the intake fitting 17 may communicatewith the space between the shaft 20 and the housing 10 through axialpassages 44 and the passage 42 in the discharge fitting 40 maycommunicate with the space between the shaft 20 and the housing 10through axial passages 45.

In operation, the impellers 23 rotate in the direction of the arrow 46in FIG. 4 and fluid flows through the impellers in the direction of thearrow 47. The fluid flow through the guide vane structure is in thedirection of the arrow 48 in FIG. 6. The rotation of the impellers 23-serve to force fluid axially of the casing 10 and any rotary motionimparted to the fluid by the impellers 23 is counteracted by the guidevane structure 30 which serves to direct the fluid in a substantiallyaxial direction into the impeller of the next stage. In this manner, anaxial flow pump is provided having a high pressure output of the orderof twelve hundred meters and more with a volume of one hundred twentycubic meters per hour and an efficiency of seventy-two percent. Sinceany number of stages may be provided within reasonable limits thepressure and output characteristics of the pump may be varied as desiredand even though a relatively large number of stages may be employed thecommon shaft is adequately supported by the provision of a bearing ineach stage.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isshown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only asindicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump comprising a base, anelongated tubular housing mounted on said base, a shaft extendingaxially through said housing in concentric relationship, an intakecasing secured to one end of said housing and surrounding said shaft, athrust bearing having one part fixed to said casing and a relativelyrotating part fixed to said shaft, an intake fitting on said casingcommunicating with the annular space between said housing and shaft, adrive motor mounted on said base and coupled to said shaft exteriorly.of said casing, a discharge fitting secured to the opposite end of saidhousing and communicating with the annular space between said housingand shaft, :a plurality of axially spaced pump stages disposed in theannular space between said housing and shaft, each stage comprising "animpeller including an elongated bushing slidably and non-rot-atablyreceived on said shaft, :an impeller body ring fixed to said bushingadjacent one end, a peripheral bearing surface on said bushing betweensaid ring and the opposite end and a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced radially projecting blades on the peripheral surface of saidring, said blades being elongated and having a generally airfoil crosssection and being disposed at an angle to the axis of said shaft, aguide vane structure spaced downstream from said impeller :andcomprising an outer sleeve slidably and non-rotatably received in saidhousing with a portion of said [outer sleeve surrounding said impeller,a plurality of circumferential'ly spaced guide vanes projecting radiallyinwardly from said outer sleeve, said vanes being elongated andhaving acurved generally curved airfoil cross section and being disposedsubstantially axially of said houisng, an inner ring on the inner sideof said vanes and a non-metallic bearing ring fixed to the inner surfaceof said inner ring and engaging said bearing surface, whereby a shaftsupporting bearing is provided for each stage, a nut threadedly receivedon the end of said shaft adjacent said discharge fitting for clampingsaid bushings on said shaft and a nut threadedly received in saidhousing adjacent said discharge fitting for clamping said outer sleevein said housing.

2. A multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump as delined in claim 1, inwhich the ratio of the radial length of the impeller blades with respectto the outside diameters of the impeller is not greater than 0.71.

3. A :multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump comprising .an elongatedtubular housing, a shaft extending axially through said housing inconcentric relationship, an intake casing secured to one end of saidhousing and surrounding said shaft, a thrust bearing having one partfixed to said casing and a relatively rotating part fixed to said shaft,an intake fitting on said casing communicating with the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, a discharge fitting secured to theopposite end of said housing and communicating with the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, a plurality of axially spaced pumpstages disposed in the annular space between said housing and shaft,each stage comprising an impeller including an elongated bushingslidably land non-rotatably received on said shaft, an impeller bodyring fixed to said bushing adjacent one end, a peripheral bearingsurf-ace on said bushing between said ring and the opposite end and aplurality of circumferentially spaced radially projecting blades on theperipheral surface of said ring, said blades being elongated and havinga generally airfoil cross section and being disposed at an angle to theaxis of said shaft, a guide vane structure spaced downstream from saidimpeller and comprising an outer sleeve slidably and non-rotatablyreceived in said housing with a portion of said outer sleeve surroundingsaid impeller, a plurality of circumferentially spaced guide vanesprojecting radially inwardly from said outer sleeve, said vanes beingelongated and having a curved generally airfoil cross section and beingdisposed substantially axially of said housing, an inner ring on theinner sides of said vanes and a nonmetallic bearing ring fixed to theinner surface of said inner ring and engaging said bearing surface,whereby -a shaft supporting bearing is provided for each stage, a nutthreadedly received on the end of said shaft adjacent said dischargefitting for clamping said bushings on said shaft and a nut threadedlyreceived in said housing adjacent said discharge fitting for clampingsaid outer sleeve in said housing.

4. A multi-stage axial ilolw high pressure pump comprising an elongatedtubular housing, a shaft extending axially through said housing inconcentric relationship, an intake casing secured to one end of saidhousing and surrounding said shaft, a thrust bearing having one partfixed to said casing and a relatively rotating part fixed to said shaft,an intake fitting on said casing communicating with the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, a discharge fitting secured to theopposite end of said housing and communicating with the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, a plurality of axially spaced pumpstages disposed in the annular space between said housing and shaft,each stage comprising an impeller including an elongated bushingslidably and non-rouata'bly received on said shaft, an impeller bodyring fixed to said bushing adjacent one end, a peripheral bearingsurface on said bushing between said ring and the opposite end and aplurality of circumferentially spaced radially projecting blades on theperipheral surface of said ring, said blades being elongated and havinga generally airfoil cross section and being disposed .at an angle to theaxis of said shaft, a guide vane structure spaced downstream from saidimpeller and comprising an outer sleeve slidably and non-rotatablyreceived in said housing with a portion of said outer sleeve surroundingsaid impeller, a plurality of circumferentially spaced guide vanesprojecting radially inwardly from said outer sleeve, said vanes beingelongated and having a curved generally airfoil cross section and beingdisposed-substantially axially of said housing, an inner ring on theinner sides of said vanes and a nonmetallic bearing ring fixed to theinner surface of said inner ring and engaging said bearing surface,whereby a shaft supporting bearing is provided for each stage, means forclamping said bushings on said shaft and means for clamping said outersleeve in said housing.

5. A multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump comprising an elongatedtubular housing, a shaft extending axially through said housing inconcentric relationship, an intake casing secured to one end of saidhousing and surrounding said shaft, an intake fitting on said casingcommunicating with the annular space between said housing and saidshaft, a discharge fitting secured to the opposite end of said housingand communicating with the annular space between said housing and shaft,a plurality of axially spaced pump stages disposed in the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, each stage cornprising an impellerincluding an elongated bushing slidably and non-rotatably received onsaid shaft, an impeller body ring fixed to said bushing adjacent oneend, a peripheral bearing surface on said bushing between said ring andthe opposite end and a plurality of circumferentially spaced radiallyprojecting blades on the peripheral surface of said ring, said bladesbeing elongated and having a generally airfoil cross section and beingdisposed at an angle to the axis of said shaft, a guide vane structurespaced downstream from said impeller and comprising an outer sleeveslidably and non-Iotatably received in said housing with a portion ofsaid outer sleeve surrounding said impeller, a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced guide vanes projecting radially inwardly fromsaid outer sleeve, said vanes being elongated and having a curvedgenerally airfoil cross section and being disposed substantially axiallyof said housing, an inner ring on the inner sides of said vanes and anon-metallic bearing ring fixed to the inner surface of said inner ringand engaging said bearing surface, whereby a shaft supporting bearing isprovided for each stage, means for clamping said bushings on said shaftand means for clamping said outer sleeve in said housing.

6. A multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump comprising an elongatedtubular housing, a shaft extending axially through said housing inconcentric relationship, an intake casing secured to one end of saidhousing and surrounding said shaft, an intake fitting on said casingcommunicating with the annular space between said housing and shaft, adischarge fitting secured to the opposite end of said housing andcommunicating with the annular space between said housing and shaft, aplurality of axially spaced pump stages disposed in the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, each stage comprising an impellerincluding an elongated bushing slidably and non-rotatably received onsaid shaft, an impeller body ring fixed to said bushing adjacent oneend, a peripheral bearing surface on said bushing between said ring andthe opposite end and a plurality of circumferentially spaced radiallyprojecting blades on the peripheral surface of said ring, said bladesbeing disposed at an angle to the axis of said shaft, a guide vanestructure spaced downstream from said impeller and comprising an outersleeve slidably and non-rotatably received in said housing with aportion of said outer sleeve surrounding said impeller, a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced guide vanes projecting radially inwardly fromsaid outer sleeve, said vanes being disposed substantially axially ofsaid housing, an inner ring on the inner sides of said vanes and anon-metallic bearing ring fixed to the inner surface of said inner ringand engaging said bearing surface, whereby a shaft supporting bearing isprovided for each stage, means for clamping said bushings on said shaftand means for clamping said outer sleeve in said housing.

7. A multi-stage axial flow high pressure pump comprising an elongatedtubular housing, a shaft extending axially through said housing inconcentric relationship, an intake casing secured to one end of saidhousing and surrounding said shaft, an intake fitting on said casingcommunicating with the annular space between said housing and shaft, adischarge fitting secured to the opposite end of said housing andcommunicating with the annular space between said housing and shaft, aplurality of axially spaced pump stages disposed in the annular spacebetween said housing and shaft, each stage comprising an impellerincluding an elongated bushing slidably and nonrotat-ably received onsaid shaft, an impeller body ring fixed to said bushing adjacent oneend, a peripheral hearing surface on said bushing between said ring andthe opposite end and a plurality of circumferentially spaced radiallyprojecting blades on the peripheral surface of said ring, said bladesbeing disposed at an angle to the axis of said shaft, a guide vanestructure spaced downstream from said impeller and comprising an outersleeve slidably and non-rotatably received in said housing with aportion of said outer sleeve surrounding said impeller, a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced guide vanes projecting radially 7 8 inwardlyfrom said outer sleeve, said vanes being disposed References Cit d b thE i substantially axially of said housing, an inner ring on the innerside of said vanes and a bearing on the inner sur- UNITED STATES PATENTSface of said inner ring engaging said bearing surface, 1,565,324 12/1925Hartman 10393 whereby a shaft supporting bearing is provided for each 51,758,175 5/1930 Schaer 103-90 stage, means for clamping said bushing onsaid shaft and 2,726,606 12/1955 Davidson 10393 means for clamping saidouter sleeve in said housing.

8. A rnulti-stage axial flow high pressure pump as de- MARK M. NEWMAN,Primary Examiner. fined in claim 7, in Which the ratio of the radiallength of I the impeller blades with respect to the outside diameter 10HENRY RADUAZO Emmmer of the impeller is not greater than 0.1. SAMUELLEVINE, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MULTI-STAGE AXIAL FLOW HIGH PRESSURE PUMP COMPRISING A BASE, ANELONGATED TUBULAR HOUSING MOUNTED ON SAID BASE, A SHAFT EXTENDINGAXIALLY THROUGH SAID HOUSING IN CONCENTRIC RELATIONSHIP, AN INTAKECASING SECURED TO ONE END OF SAID HOUSING AND SURROUNDING SAID SHAFT, ATHRUST BEARING HAVING ONE PART FIXED TO SAID CASING AND A RELATIVELYROTATING PART FIXED TO SAID SHAFT, AN INTAKE FITTING ON SAID CASINGCOMMUNICATING WITH THE ANNULAR SPACE BETWEEN SAID HOUSING AND SHAFT, ADRIVE MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID BASE AND COUPLED TO SAID SHAFT EXTERIORLY OFSAID CASING, A DISCHARGE FITTING SECURED TO THE OPPOSITE END OF SAIDHOUSING AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE ANNULAR SPACE BETWEEN SAID HOUSINGAND SHAFT, A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY SPACED PUMP STAGES DISPOSED IN THEANNULAR SPACE BETWEEN SAID HOUSING AND SHAFT, EACH STAGE COMPRISING ANIMPELLER INCLUDING AN ELONGATED BUSHING SLIDABLY AND NON-ROTATABLYRECEIVED ON SAID SHAFT, AN IMPELLER BODY RING FIXED TO SAID BUSHINGADJACENT ONE END, A PERIPHERAL BEARING SURFACE ON SAID BUSHING BETWEENSAID RING AND THE OPPOSITE END AND A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLYSPACED RADIALLY PROJECTING BLADES ON THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAIDRING, SAID BLADES BEING ELONGATED AND HAVING A GENERALLY AIRFOIL CROSSSECTION AND BEING DISPOSED AT AN ANGLE TO THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT, AGUIDE VANE STRUCTURE SPACED DOWNSTREAM FROM SAID IMPELLER AND COMPRISINGAN OUTER SLEEVE SLIDABLY AND NON-ROTATABLY RECEIVED IN SAID HOUSING WITHA PORTION OF SAID OUTER SLEEVE SURROUNDING SAID IMPELLER, A PLURALITY OFCIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED GUIDE VANES PROJECTING RADIALLY INWARDLY FROMSAID OUTER SLEEVE, SAID VANES BEING ELONGATED AND HAVING A CURVEDGENERALLY CURVED AIRFOIL CROSS SECTION AND BEING DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLYAXIALLY OF SAID HOUSING, AN INNER RING ON THE INNER SIDE OF SAID VANESAND A NON-METALLIC BEARING RING FIXED TO THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID INNERRING AND ENGAGING SAID BEARING SURFACE, WHEREBY A SHAFT SUPPORTINGBEARING IS PROVIDED FOR EACH STAGE, A NUT THREADEDLY RECEIVED ON THE ENDOF SAID SHAFT ADJACENT SAID DISCHARGE FITTING FOR CLAMPING SAID BUSHINGSON SAID SHAFT AND A NUT THREADEDLY RECEIVED IN SAID HOUSING ADJACENTSAID DISCHARGE FITTING FOR CLAMPING SAID OUTER SLEEVE IN SAID HOUSING.